I'm two years post-partum, and it didn't occur to me until now to check to see if my muscles are separated. Yikes! It explains why I can't get rid of this pregnancy tummy.

Could anyone who's had diastasis recti tell me a little about your experience and what worked? I'm going to start with a stint and some non-crunch abdominal exercises and maybe consider physical therapy.

Has anyone recovered, or will I be battling this the rest of my life?

mamashanti

05-25-2014 05:39 PM

You can bring it back together- how many fingers width are they separated? I had my baby 7 months ago and I originally had a whole hand width post pregnancy which has closed to barely a fingertip after doing exercises to draw them back together.

Turquesa

05-25-2014 10:33 PM

Four. So you're saying there's hope, then? What exercises did you do? I only know that crunches are a no-no.

Did you use an abdominal stint? What kind?

NiteNicole

05-25-2014 11:19 PM

I would like to know more about this, too. My "baby" is eight and I still have a very wide separation. I know crunches are not good but...what else can I do?

Mama505

05-25-2014 11:42 PM

Ooooo, me too! I had it with my first and I don't know that it ever "healed". Now again with #2...

nettlesoup

05-26-2014 12:50 AM

I had it with both my children. With my first it took a couple of years to get back to normal because I was unaware of exercises to fix it. With my son I did TVA exercises from right after birth and it closed up form being 4 fingers wide in a couple of weeks. I used these exercises; http://www.befitmom.com/diastasis_recti.html They are also the exercises the physiotherapist recommended and they are incredibly effective.

mamapigeon

05-26-2014 11:17 AM

I'm here too. I've been meaning to try something for a while now, but never knew where to look.

mamashanti

05-26-2014 11:58 PM

I started with pelvic tilts (lying on my back) and vacuum crunches (they aren't crunches at all- they are engaging the transverse abdominals- which is what you want!).

Once my separation was down to 2 fingers or so- I started doing planks. I used a belly binder from day 2 postpartum to week 4- the squeem- and I highly recommend it.

Another thing I did which might sound silly is i physically used my hands (like hugging myself) while lightly crunching upwards to draw the sides of my muscles together. I wouldn't do a ton of reps- but I read it in a book awhile ago that that can help bring the sides together- and it did!

Now that my muscles are almost together- I STILL don't do any straight forward ab work. In fact... I'm kind of against it- I don't want to bulk muscles up around my waist. The only thing I do for core strength DAILY are: PC muscle exercises, planks (takes no time at all- 1 minute a day) and vacuum crunches (can do it while sitting and typing, feeding baby, washing dishes, etc). I keep my core engaged --meaning- my transverse abdominals are contracted, lower ribs are pulled down, lower abs are up and in, pelvic floor is braced-- whenever I do any movement that is strenuous- like putting the car seat in the car, carrying groceries, lifting baskets of laundry - etc.

I DONT do boat pose (navasana) in yoga. It works the psoas- deep hip flexor/core muscle, as well as all of the more superficial abdominal muscles- it can be VERY straining and cause the abs to separate more. I don't do crunches. ONE exercise I occasionally do is lay on my back with my feet straight in the air, draw my lower back to the ground, engage my abs, and then slowly lower one leg and then the other- I do this maybe once a week. Definition in my stomach is coming back finally- at 8 months pp.

hope this helped.

mamapigeon

05-27-2014 11:00 AM

Awesome tips, LeelasMama! I'm going to go try some tilts and vacuum crunches while my kids play. Do you know if squats are okay to do before closing a separation?

Turquesa

05-31-2014 07:13 PM

So encouraging! Thank you mamas! :goodvibes For those of you attacking this along with me, check in periodically on your progress.

erinmattsmom88

06-01-2014 08:36 AM

I have this problem too. I am 4 years PP with last child. Mine is pretty bad. I still appear 5 months pregnant. It doesn't help that I am extremely short-waisted. Ugh. I am going to look into the tips above. Thanks to those who have posted! It's encouraging to read that there is some hope besides surgery.

AndtheStars

06-30-2014 08:17 PM

Yep, me too...my second just turned two and I have about 2-3 fingers of separation in the middle a little below my belly button and 1-2 fingers at the top and bottom. I can feel the elongated eye shape of the opening. It squicks me out.

I try to engage my muscles a lot as Leelasmom suggested by I just can't remember. I think a splint would help to keep me working on it. I want to consider having another child but between the diastasis, the pelvic floor issues and the hair loss, I don't know if I can put my body through another pregnancy without coming out of it looking and feeling awful. Is that bad to type out loud?

I'm happy to have some other mamas with long-standing DR's out there to commiserate with.

erinmattsmom88

01-13-2015 01:31 PM

This thread died out several months ago. So, did anyone have success with splints, exercises? I still haven't done anything about mine, but am about to join the local gym. I have been having a weird sensation underneath the bottom of my ribcage on the right side, which I think may be because of the diastasis. This is motivating me to do something about it. Anyone else have weird symptoms because of the diastasis??